I have only recently fully embraced my atheism and have only been on this forum for about a month.  I have explored the holy writings of most of the major religions but I haven't spent much time studying philosophy.  

I have begun watching some youtube videos on Stoicism. The quotes and teachings feel like they fit pretty well.  I haven't really found anything yet that I find objectionable and much of it seems to conform with how I tend to already try to live. 

As someone who hasn't done much studying of secular philosophy, I am looking for recommendations of people, books, sites, etc. to look into.  

Where should I start? Who are some of your favorite philosophers, sites, books, etc.?

I am sure this has been discussed before but I didn't see any recent Threads.  

Thanks!

Some of my favorite philosophers: (your mileage may vary for most of these, especially the last one.)

* Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius
* Aristotle
* Hume
* Schopenhauer
* Dostoevsky (technically a novelist, but close enough for most purposes.)
* Nietzsche
* Bertrand Russell
* Cioran

I do not know if he ever identified as a philosopher, but Robert Green Ingersoll.

(December 3, 2023 at 12:36 am)Harry Haller Wrote: I have only recently fully embraced my atheism and have only been on this forum for about a month.  I have explored the holy writings of most of the major religions but I haven't spent much time studying philosophy.  

I have begun watching some youtube videos on Stoicism. The quotes and teachings feel like they fit pretty well.  I haven't really found anything yet that I find objectionable and much of it seems to conform with how I tend to already try to live. 

As someone who hasn't done much studying of secular philosophy, I am looking for recommendations of people, books, sites, etc. to look into.  

Where should I start? Who are some of your favorite philosophers, sites, books, etc.?

I am sure this has been discussed before but I didn't see any recent Threads.  

Thanks!

A.N. Whitehead famously said that all Western philosophy is just footnotes to Plato. If you're planning to get deeply into philosophy, it makes sense to read the source. Plato's Symposium and Phaedrus are good to start with. The Jowett translations are free on line but maybe the more recent translations by Waterfield are better for us 21st century people. 

One of the main questions of philosophy is "What is it like to be a good person?" For that issue, the foundational text is Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. Translations of this one vary widely, but I've found David Ross's version to be clearest. 

There are a lot of things in the above books which you will probably disagree with. Working out the differences in what they thought from what modern people think helps to make our own assumptions clear to us. The last thing you'd want to do is rummage around in philosophy books looking for quotes that support your current ideas. 

A lot of atheists have only ever heard of an oversimplified, Sunday School version of Christian theology. To understand better the grownup's version of what you're rejecting, you can read Scholastic Metaphysics by Edward Feser and The Metaphysics of Dante's Comedy by Christian Moevs. 

In reading older philosophy, there is a constant danger of interpreting things too much through a modern lens. A Secular Age by Charles Taylor is a clear history of how our whole worldview differs from earlier ages in Europe, and how that affects all of our thinking.

Good luck to you!

I find that it's more useful to study philosophers than philosophy. That said:

Joseph Fletcher
Auguste Comte
George Holyoake
Jeremy Bentham
Noam Chomsky
AC Grayling

Plenty more.

Boru

https://plato.stanford.edu/

There's some good philosophy on YouTube.

Don't bother.

(December 3, 2023 at 3:21 am)Belacqua Wrote: A lot of atheists have only ever heard of an oversimplified, Sunday School version of Christian theology. To understand better the grownup's version of what you're rejecting, you can read Scholastic Metaphysics by Edward Feser and The Metaphysics of Dante's Comedy by Christian Moevs. 

Wait, but you said that you are not a Christian, so what exactly is the point of atheists reading these Christian philosophers that you recommend? So that we see that we are right because they did not even persuade you.

Religion produces nothing so it claims everything in lieu of actual value.